7 Common SEO Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

The 7 Most Common SEO Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

The 7 Most Common SEO Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

So, you’ve spent weeks working with a website designer, maybe someone from Upwork or Fiverr, or perhaps a local agency that offers design and development services and claims to have SEO experts too. You assumed they would take care of everything, that your website would magically be optimised for all the keywords that matter to your business.

If this sounds familiar, you’re definitely not the first person it’s happened to.

Over the years, I’ve been contacted by business owners and senior managers who were frustrated that their shiny new website, which looked the dog’s bollocks, wasn’t ranking for any keywords and wasn’t bringing in any organic traffic.

They'd search Google for what they thought were obvious terms, but their site was nowhere to be seen.

Let’s fix that.

Below are seven of the most common SEO mistakes I see (and fix) whether it’s a startup site, a Shopify store, or a seven-figure brand with a full marketing team.

1. No Clear SEO Strategy

A lot of the mistakes I see come down to one thing: no SEO strategy.

Not a half-hearted one. Not a one-liner in a proposal. A proper, researched, mapped-out strategy that guides every step of your website’s development and content.

Some business owners assume SEO is something you can bolt on when you're ready. And to some extent, that’s true. But the people who get results fastest are the ones who work with someone experienced from the start, someone who can create a strategy built around real data, goals, and market understanding.

Even worse than no strategy is having a great one that never gets implemented.

I once worked with a startup e-commerce brand in the swimwear sector. We spent months together building a proper SEO plan to optimise their Shopify site. Then... nothing. None of it got implemented. They hit a cash flow dip and focused on Instagram instead.

That business is still online today and still getting virtually no organic traffic. They had the blueprint but never used it. SEO isn’t just about planning. It’s about execution.

2. Assuming the Designer Will Handle SEO

Let me be clear, most website designers are not SEO experts. Some have a bit of knowledge, but SEO requires a different skill set, research, technical know-how, content structure, and strategy.

I recently had a client return to me with a new business idea. I’d helped them succeed before, so I was excited to hear they’d built the new site on WordPress. That’s a good start, I’ve worked on loads of WordPress projects.

But then I heard they’d used a designer overseas from Upwork. And while this designer had a great eye for visuals, they weren’t experienced enough to build a functional, SEO-friendly site. After our SEO audit, we found loads of issues. The designer couldn’t fix them, and eventually the client stopped working with that website designer.

Lesson? SEO needs to be baked in, not sprinkled on.

3. Technical Issues That Kill Rankings

One of the most common and frustrating issues I see is technical mistakes that completely block search engines.

A recent example, I received a message on LinkedIn from a business owner at a local printing company. Out of curiosity, I clicked through to their website. Visually, it looked strong, but when I checked the backend, their homepage was set to “noindex.”

That one setting was telling Google not to index the site technical SEO issues that completely block search engines. When I looked into it further, I saw their organic visibility had dropped by more than half since launching the new site, probably the moment the redesign went live.

This isn’t a rare mistake. I’ve seen it more times than I can count. A site goes live, someone forgets to remove “noindex,” and traffic disappears.

It takes seconds to fix, but longer to recover from.

4. Targeting the Wrong Keywords is a Common SEO Mistake

I love many things, my family, friends, my loyal dog, and the rare times I get to go fishing. But I also love keywords. Keyword research is the foundation of SEO, it’s how you know what your customers are really searching for. Not in a geeky way (well, maybe a little), but because they’re the foundation of SEO. They show us how people search for products and services and that’s incredibly powerful.

Keyword strategy feels second nature to me now. But I’ve learned that for many business owners, it’s confusing or overwhelming. They often assume their customers use the same internal language they do and that’s rarely the case.

One example I’ll never forget, a client wanted to rank on page one in the US for the keyword "diamonds." Why? Because it had the most search volume.

But volume doesn’t equal intent. I explained that someone searching "diamonds" might be a schoolkid doing a project or a Minecraft fan. “Buy loose diamonds” or “2 carat engagement ring” were much stronger, more commercial keywords.We eventually got them to page one for "diamonds" but it was the long-tail phrases that drove the sales.Another client in recruitment assumed the word "hire" was only used in the US. Turns out, it’s heavily searched in the UK too. That small realisation unlocked a new wave of visibility for them.

Don't guess your keywords. Research them.

5. Believing SEO Myths and YouTube Tricks

There are so many blog posts and YouTube videos out there telling you how to “rank #1 on Google.”

They make SEO sound simple, follow this blueprint, use this plugin, install this AI tool, and you’ll dominate search. But it doesn’t work like that. SEO is strategic.

It requires planning, data, and experience. One of the saddest trends I see is people falling for cold emails that promise guaranteed page 1 rankings for £300/month.

These usually come from Gmail addresses, and they’re almost always too good to be true. If that approach really worked, all the major SEO agencies would be out of business.

And yes, I charge more than that, because what I do actually works.

6. Failing to Implement Proper Internal Linking

Internal links are a simple but powerful tool. Yet so many businesses forget to use them.

You publish a great new blog post or launch a new service page… and leave it floating, unlinked, and hard to find.

Internal linking helps Google understand your site structure. It passes authority between pages. It also guides visitors through your site.

I often recommend this simple rule, every time you create a new piece of content, find at least one existing page to link to it from. That one habit can significantly boost your rankings over time.

7. Changing URLs Without Redirects

This one sounds small but can be devastating.

Sometimes people change a page URL to improve clarity or structure, but forget to add a 301 redirect from the old one. If that page had backlinks, rankings, or traffic, all of it vanishes.

I’ve seen entire traffic sources vanish overnight due to this.

One mistake on one page might not seem like a big deal, but if it’s your highest-converting product or service page, it can cost you sales and leads in a flash.

Plan your redirects like your revenue depends on it, because it might.

Final Thoughts: Avoiding Common SEO Mistakes Starts With Strategy

I’ve been called many things in my life (some of them unprintable), but occasionally a client refers to me as a magician or wizard because SEO feels like magic to them.

I do enjoy the odd card trick, but I’m no magician. I’m a strategist. A marketer. Someone who enjoys the challenge of SEO, because it is challenging.

And I hope if you’ve read this far, through what turned out to be a much longer post than I expected you’ve picked up something useful to help you get better results.

I wish you well on your SEO journey.

If I can help in any way, feel free to get in touch or request a free SEO review.

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